Before offering any solution to the $6.2 billion shortfall, Republicans are instead focused on denying some Minnesotans the right to vote. Tea Party conservatives in the legislature continued their assault on the state’s elections system today by introducing costly legislation that will only make the deficit worse. 

Minnesota citizens have a right to vote. Passing this legislation would then require all Minnesotans have the right to a free photo I.D. – which would cost the state millions of dollars and create a whole new layer of state bureaucracy….

A photo I.D. requirement is not only costly; it makes voting more difficult for senior citizens, students, and rural Minnesotans. Right now a quarter of Minnesota seniors have no photo I.D., voters in rural Minnesota have to drive great distances to get one, and students’ drivers licenses are for addresses at their parents’ residences.

Rep. Ryan Winkler (D-Golden Valley), via press release